Investing.com – Gold prices gave up its earlier gain amidst the mounting Syria conflict threat as the dollar recovered after trading around this week’s lowest range earlier in the day.
Gold Futures for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was down $7.1, or 0.52%, to $1,352.8 a troy ounce by 1:13AM ET (05:13 GMT).
The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies last stood at 89.27 at 11:07PM ET (03:07 GMT), up 0.06%. The dollar tumbled to 89.09 overnight, but gradually recovered on Thursday late morning.
Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are sensitive to moves in the dollar – a gain in the dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency and thus decreases demand for the precious metal.
Reports that U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to launch missiles at Syria were in focus overnight in Asia and hampered investors’ risk appetite, sending havens such as gold and the anti-risk yen higher.
Later in the day, Trump reportedly did not settle on a plan after meeting with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. The twist in the Syria crisis development improved market sentiment on Thursday morning and sent gold prices lower.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures fell 0.82% to $16.630 a troy ounce, and platinum futures slipped 0.6% to $929.90 an ounce.